The New Heavens And Earth: Literal or Figurative?

 In Revelation 21, the apostle John gives us a beautiful picture of a “new heaven and new earth,” upon which a new metropolis and center of divine worship, the New Jerusalem, descends.  For many centuries the church has interpreted John’s vision as relating to a future reality.  Most Christians today would agree.  They do not believe the vision is to be taken in any allegorical or mystical sense, but in a plain and literal sense. 

   However, not all concur with this opinion.  There are still a few Christians, most of them of the “Reformed” group, who insist that the “New Heavens and New Earth” are simply another name for “the Gospel administration;” and that the “curse” of Genesis 3 has been done away “in Christ“–a convenient phrase which may mean anything, or nothing at all, according as it is applied.

1. Typology of The Creation Account

 In order to find out the truth of the matter, it is suggested that we go back to the original creation account.  For what we have in Revelation is obviously an “antitype” of the “heaven and earth” mentioned in Genesis 1: 1: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”  As with the two resurrections in Revelation 20, we assume that if one is literal, the other is also literal.  If one is figurative, the other is figurative as well.  If the “new heaven and earth” of Revelation 21 is allegorical, then we may reasonably hold that the Genetic account is also an allegory.  For the one is the antitype of the other.

   Confusion ensues when the student fails to see that Revelation is the complement of Genesis.  Genesis is the book of beginnings.  Revelation is the book of the end.  In Genesis we have accounts of the creation of the earth, Satan’s first rebellion, the entrance of sin, and the curse.  In Revelation we are told of Satan’s final rebellion,  the abolition of sin, the passing away of the earth, and removal of the curse.  As death came upon all men through Adam’s transgression (Romans 5: 12), and as Christ will return to earth as the Second Adam (1 Cor. 15: 45), so His redemptive work must be worldwide in its effects.  Perhaps a closer look at the typology of creation will bring this out.

II. The Creative Ages

  In Genesis 1: 1-2, we read: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.  And the earth was (became) without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.”  This describes the creation of the primal earth, and the chaos into which it subsequently fell.  We do not know how the earth became “tohu va bohu;” but our theory is that Satan was placed over the original earth, and apostasized by attempting to mimic God’s creative works.  His efforts resulted in a race of monsters (dinosaurs) whose existence brought on a global deluge, and so the earth became “without form and void.”  The antitype of this primal creation is the “new heaven and earth” of Revelation 21.

   Peter, writing of the last days scoffers, alludes to this original primal creation.  “For this they are willingly ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water, and in the water: whereby the world that then was (the primal creation), being overflowed with water, perished” (2 Peter 3: 5-6).  In Genesis 1-2, Moses records the restoration of this primal earth.  But Peter writes that the “heavens and earth which are now” (2 Peter 3: 7) are reserved unto fire.  This fiery deluge (referred to in Rev. 20: 11 and 21: 1) is the antitype of that deluge of water whereby the original earth became without form and void.

  The six-days’ work related in Gen. 1: 3-31 was not the creation of a new earth out of nothing, but the restoration of the earth to its original condition before it became submerged in water.  But after the fall of Adam the present earth fell into degeneration; and so it was cleansed with water.  It now awaits an additional cleansing by fire. This will precede the Millennium, that age in which the earth will be restored and blessed by God. Christ purchased the creation with His own blood (as evidenced by the crown of thorns); and His second coming, the antitype of the Noachian deluge, will not issue in the “new heaven and new earth” as described in Rev. 21, but in a restoration of the “heaven and earth which are now.”

   In light of the above, the “creative ages” (Alpha Ages) may be viewed as threefold and progressive, having a direct link to end-time antitypes.  The first phase was the creation of the original earth (Gen. 1: 1).  The second was a “chaotic earth” (Gen. 1: 2); while the third resulted in the “present earth” (Gen. 1: 3-2: 7).  The present earth was flooded by water in the days of Noah.  But it awaits its fiery baptism, which will occur when Jesus Christ returns from heaven to establish His Millennial reign. 

   The purging of the creation by fire, related in 2 Peter 3 and Revelation 20, does not refer to Christ’s second coming, but is the antitype of the watery baptism of the primal creation.  There are two water-baptisms and two fire baptisms.  One belongs to the “heaven and earth which are of old.”  The other belongs to the “heaven and earth which now are.”  Recognizing this principle is essential to “rightly dividing the word of truth” and understanding God’s plan and purpose to restore creation.  The Dispensational scheme of the Bible shows that this restoration will be brought about in inverse order to that of its ruin.  It is not accomplished all at once, but in stages and gradations.

III. The Creative Week & The Redemptive Week

  Wrapped up, as it were, in this typology of the creation, is a smaller typlogy of redemption.  The subordinate typology does not annul or “replace” the larger typlogy, but complements it, allowing us to understand, on a micro level, truths which are universal and comprehensive in their fulfillment.   The “creative week” of Genesis may be seen as a “type” of the “redemptive week” of man.  It is quite important that we bring this out.   

   The creative week occupies the seven days of creation (including the sabbath), and as such belongs to the “restoration” phase of the “Creative Ages.”  This typical week saw the creation and/or restoration of:– 1): Cosmic light (the first day); 2): the firmament (second day); 3): dry land and vegetation (third day); 4): solar light (fourth day); 5): fish and fowl (fifth day); 6): land animals & man (sixth day).  Since the perfection of the the creative week was marred by sin, the seventh day of the creative week was moved to the last day of the redemptive week.

  The redemptive week began upon Adam and Eve’s eviction from Eden, on the sixth day of the creative week.  The redemption wrought by Christ was typified by a slain animal, probably a lamb (see Genesis 3: 21); and thence a “day” became equivalent to “1000 years.”  Adam died on the day he ate of the fruit, living to be 930 years old (Gen. 5: 5).  Mercy was afforded him through the merits of the lamb’s blood, and he died within the first day of the redemptive week.  Notice that when the Dispensation of Innocence ended, God began “working” according to a different scale of time.

  From the Dispensation of Conscience to the close of the Legal Dispensation, all of God’s promises of redemption looked forward to the true sabbath, or seventh day–otherwise known as the Millennium.  However, during the Dispensation of Grace, an additional day is held forth, even the eighth day, in which all things will be restored under a permanent and eternal administration.  This will have its fulfillment in the New Heaven and New Earth. 

    It is doubtful whether the Old Testament prophets saw as far as the eighth day.  It is rather believed that they saw only as far as the Sabbath (Millennium), and that the prophet Isaiah’s ”new heaven and new earth” (Isaiah 65: 17; 66: 22) is actually the “1000 years ” of Revelation 20, and not the “New heaven and new earth” of Revelation 21.  However, that is just an afterthought.

IV. Lack of Distinction Creates Confusion

  Due to failure to distinguish between the two typologies (creative and redemptive), allegorists see Revelation 21 as nothing more than a highly figurative account of Christian salvation.  Failure to “discern the things that differ” is the fountain and springhead of all errors concerning the exact meaning of the term, “new heaven and earth.”  However, the terminology itself points us back to the Genetic typology.  The “new heavens and earth” described by John is creative, and not redemptive, in nature.  The denizens of the new administration are described as already redeemed, and cannot enter the city unless they are fully sanctified (Rev. 21: 7-8, 24; 22: 14-15).

  On the other hand, when Paul says, “if any man be in Christ he is a new creation” (2 Cor. 5: 17), he refers to a redemptive work, and not a creative work.  As you see, there is a difference.  No one would imagine that the “new creation” mentioned is identical to that of Revelation 21.   If the “new heaven and earth” seen by John represents realities in the redemptive sphere alone (and by this I mean personal redemption), then what does Genesis 1: 1-3 signify? It certainly has nothing to do with the Gospel.  Those verses speak of God’s creative works, which came about before man was even formed, or in need of salvation.  

   Therefore, the first two chapters of Genesis have nothing to do with personal redemption.  Moreover, if John’s vision of Revelation 21 can be demonstrated as having typological connection with the Genetic account, then that forever settles the question of whether or not the “new heaven and earth” is a literal future reality.  For the salvation of individuals is still ongoing in this dispensation.  If still ongoing, then it is incomplete, and Christ is still “working,” and remains in the holy place making intercession for our sins.  If this be so, then we are still in the “sixth day,” and have not yet been fully sanctified.  Therefore, Revelation 21 awaits a future fulfillment.  As such, it can have nothing to do with the present Dispensation.

V. A Properly Balanced View

  The New heaven and new earth are where God’s plan of redemption will have its perfect fulfillment. As stated above, when Adam and Eve sinned on the sixth day of the week, the creative week was marred; and so the sabbath, which came a day later, looked forward to something better.  Since the creation was subjected to vanity on account of man’s sin (Romans 8: 20), it too got packaged in God’s plan of redemption, and the sabbath of the creative week was moved to that of the redemptive week.  The seventh day is when the blessed jubilee will come; and we find its nature vividly described in the Old Testament (see Psalm 65: 7-13; Isa. 11: 6-8; 30: 23-26; Ezek. 47: 6-12; Joel 3: 18; Amos 9: 13).

  The Millennium, however, will only be the restoration of the restored earth (that third phase of the “creative ages”).  Its fulfillment does not take us back any farther than Genesis 1: 3.  There still remains the cleansing of the original heaven and earth, which were once deluged by water (as implied in Gen. 1: 2-3), but will, at the close of the seventh day, be deluged by fire.  

    As Satan’s first rebellion caused the flooding of primal creation, so Satan’s last rebellion, his being loosed for a “little season,” (see Rev. 20: 3, 7) will issue in the dissolution of the heaven and earth as graphically described by Peter. The result will be a “new heavens and new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3: 13).  The reason why Peter overlooks the Millennium (the seventh day), and focuses exclusively on the eighth day, is probably because the glorified saints (the church of the first-born) will reign with Christ in the New Jerusalem during the Millennium, but while the New Jerusalem is still above the earth. 

   During the “1000 years,” the regenerated nation of Israel (the church of the second-born) will bear rule on earth from the rebuilt city of Jerusalem: not the New Jerusalem, but that described in the latter chapters of the book of Ezekiel (see Ezekiel 40-48).  Then, after the general judgment, the Israel of the Millennium will be resurrected into the New Jerusalem, and, the whole number of God’s elect being complete, the city will descend upon the new earth.  Then will God’s plan of redemption be fulfilled, and the “Perfect Age” will begin.

  From the facts above, it is obvious that any figurative view of the “new heavens and earth” would force us to overlook, not only the typology preserved in the Genetic account of creation, but also many of the most important prophetical truths set down for our edification and enlightenment.  Let us take this “sure word of prophecy” (2 Peter 1: 19) and embrace the promises that it holds forth.  For if the “new heavens and new earth” are figurative, then the connected promises may also be figurative.  But if they are literal, then we know that they are based on literal promises.  And every promise made by God will surely come to pass. 

Are We Nearing The End Of The Age?

  As Scripture teaches, a great eschatological crisis is often preceded by a significant change in the moral climate. Before a dispensation closes, there are certain signs to tell us that the “end is nigh.”  In the days of Noah, men were unwilling to hearken to the preaching of the word.  That was the tell-tale sign.  They were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah and his family entered the Ark (Luke 17: 27).  Then, seven days later, the flood began, and all flesh was destroyed.  That was the crisis.

I. Dispensational Turning-Points

  The Flood ended a Dispensation, but it also closed the Antediluvian age, ushering in the “present evil age.”  It is only natural, then, that when Jesus Christ equates His second coming to the flood of Noah, He predicts that moral conditions on earth will be substantially equivalent to those which ended the previous age.  Those conditions called for judgment, and constituted a Dispensational turning-point.  But as it was in the days of Noah and of Lot, so shall it be when the Son of Man is revealed.

  Between the end of the present Church Dispensation, and the ”revelation” of Jesus Christ in the clouds of heaven, is a parenthetical “Dispensation of Judgment.”  It is with this seven-year epoch that the book of Revelation deals.  The fulfillment of its prophecies will begin when the present administration closes–when the throne of grace is exchanged for a throne of judgment. 

   When the Lamb comes forward to take up the seven-sealed scroll from the hand of His Father, the entire condition of things on earth will change.  As students of the Word of God, and as Christians called to follow unerringly the Captain of our salvation, these events ought to interest us deeply.  When we see apostasy spreading on all sides, we can only conclude that we are headed, with all speed, toward the “end of the age.”

II. The World Has Reached A Crisis

  None will deny that the world is in a dire condition.  The case being as it is, we naturally ask, how deep are we into the signs which forecast the end?  Will a secret rapture occur at any moment, or have we time yet to spare? Will we ourselves be found entering into the next phase of divine administration?  Or will we be caught out before the tribulation begins?  Such questions are pertinent, and should make every Bible-believing Christian ask: “How near are we to the consummation?”

    Popular prophecy teachers like Hal Lindsey see in the current economic woes a tell-tale sign that globalization will soon be implemented. ”You can’t nationalize a global economic problem,” he says.  Only bring globalization into the domains of economy and politics, and religion will quickly follow.  Many Christians, in studying the last book of the New Testament, don’t realize that the church is mentioned in the the Apocalypse. But not as we expect to find it! 

   John sees apostate Christianity in its final form, as the harlot rides the beast during the first half of Daniel’s seventieth week (Rev. 17).  What does this tell us?  It signifies that once Antichrist steps on the scene, the present apostasy will have become so rife that the church as as we know it will be barely recognizable.  Now, as more and more Christians espouse “latitudinarian” concepts, and willingly compromise their stance on vital issues, the church’s harlotry becomes more profound.  All the more reason, then, to take heed to the warnings contained in the epistles to the seven assemblies (Rev. 2-3).  Only those who keep God’s word whole and undefiled will be accounted worthy to escape the tribulation (Rev. 3: 10).

  The nature of the present apostasy tells us that things are reaching a climax.  Evengelicalism is being undermined, while atheism spreads.  Morality, even of the most basic type, is becoming a thing of the past.  Discord and disillusion strut hand in hand through a wasteland of broken dreams and shattered hopes.  Cynicism is the order of the day.  And if anyone professes belief in the doctrines of Christianity, he is ridiculed as an ignoramus, a fanatic, or worse.

III. Paying Attention To The Signs

   Hence, we can tell we are near the end by paying attention to these “signs of the times.”  It will be asserted, I know, that history is full of ”fallings away” from the purity of the Gospel; and that the run of human affairs has never been such as to bring doomsday prophets to silence.  My answer is, that while church history records many recidivations from the truth, and secular history is full of wars and rumors of wars (all of which make it difficult to predict how far we are into the end of the age), never before in human history have we seen such phenomena so rapid and worldwide in their effects.  And never before have individuals (and whole nations) fallen so quickly into the traps that Satan has laid out for the human race.

    But in answering the question “how long?” Bible history will be found more helpful than human history.  As the world is on the verge of an eschatological crisis, the only way to tell how close we are to the end is to go back and study those moral conditions that marked the close of the previous age.  How many “signs” parallel what we see happening all around us?  The proliferation of these signs, like tropical plants in their native element, will indicate our proximity to the next great crisis in human history.

   In his book “Dispensational Truth” (1918), Clarence Larkin lists seven signs which marked the close of the Antediluvian Age.  Let’s see how many of these signs we can point to as prominent in our own day:

   1): A tendency to worship God simply as Creator, and not as Jehovah requiring atonement for sin.

   2): There was a rapid advance in cilvilization, and in the arts and sciences.

   3): There was a union of the holy line of Seth with the wicked line of Cain.

   4): A vast increase of population and congestion of population in the great cities.

   5): Undue prominence of the female sex, and disregard of the primal law of marriage.

   6): Unlawful intercourse of “denizens of the air” with the daughters of men.

   7): The rejection of the preaching of Enoch and Noah.

IV. Unbelief Spurs Us Closer To The End

  Of all these indications of human degeneracy, I think the worst of all is failure to believe the Gospel.  As a minister of the Gospel, I myself have witnessed, even in heavily evangelical communities, a deep-seated apathy and lack of interest in the doctrines of personal salvation. 

   Then, too, moving among professing Christians, I’ve witnessed, time and again, a spirit of impish perversity that will not believe in the warnings of a “wrath to come.”  When I think of what stagnation has overtaken so many, it certainly impells me to believe that we are living in those closing days of which Christ warned His chosen apostles (Matt. 24: 12), and in those perilous times of which Paul warned Timothy (2 Tim. 3: 1-8).  Christians are apt to believe in and accept the grace of God.  But how many are willing to accept that perhaps one day they may have to suffer martyrdom for their faith?  Are we as Christians ready to make this sacrifice?  Have we allowed the moral and spiritual climate of the world to chill our faith in the God of the Bible?  Can we not see that we are on the brink of a great eschatological crisis, which could happen at any moment?

V. Our Present Duty Is To Watch!

  When we agree that things are getting worse and worse, we must recognize that there is but one thing to do, and that is to zealously uphold and defend the “faith delivered once for all to the saints” (Jude 3).  Yes, the only solution to our problems is to obey the Gospel, and to resist any efforts of the adversay calculated to undermine faith in Christ.  Is a promised reward held out to overcomers? Let us press forward that we may obtain the prize.  Are comforts afforded us through the preaching of the Gospel?  Then let no man seek to tell us our Gospel is false.  As the devil rages, and as the nations vent their wrath against the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, it is our duty to stand at our posts and to await the glorious coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who shall deliver us from the wrath to come (1 Thess. 1: 10). 

   No watchman, while he is on the tower, allows himself to fall asleep, lest the enemy come in at unawares and surprise him, and the city be taken.  But he is to remain a faithful sentinel.  And when he sees dust-clouds rolling over the distant plain, he is to sound the alarm, that all may get prepared for the coming battle.  In meditation in the night hours, in a dream of the night, one saw many horsemen arrayed in somber colors, their weapons stained with blood, making haste to reach the unwalled villages before morning.  And a vigilant watchman, seated upon the tower, espied the band approaching, gave the alarm, and through his faithfulness saved many men, women, and children from the wrath of the invader.  

   As worthy watchmen and stewards of the grace of God, let us do the same. For we know not how near we are to the end of the age.  But knowing that the age is racing to its end, we have much to do in warning others, and in keeping ourselves unspotted from the world (James 1: 27).  May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be ever with us, and confirm us unto the end, that we may stand before Him unashamed, and receive the inheritance that He has promised unto all His saints.  Amen.

Refuting Preterism: The Second Foundation: The “Timing Texts”

   Besides relying on a restricted meaning of the phrase “this generation,” another essential of Preterist theology involves what are called the “timing texts.” These are preterist proof-texts which contain an imminency factor, representing eschatological events as “near,” “soon,” and “at hand.” Treating the canonical New Testament writings as purely human documents, Preterists use these texts in an attempt to show that these events (the second advent, resurrection, and judgment) all occurred within the lifetime of the first-century saints.

   In our last article, we showed that the Preterist interpretation of “this generation” is false. So in this article we are prepared to show that their view of the “timing texts” is likewise mistaken. In contrast, however, to the great majority of Pre-Millennialists, I do hold that the Scripture teaches an imminent first-century coming of Christ.

   For instance, when the time came for John Baptist to accomplish his ministry and prepare the way for the coming King, he went out into the wilderness around Jordan, and cried: “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3: 2). We learn, then, that the kingdom of heaven (the same kingdom described in Daniel 7) was “at hand” in the first century. As in the parable of the marriage supper, all things were ready (Matt. 22: 4) when the invitation was first sent out. Yet merely because the kingdom was at hand then doesn’t mean that it was not subsequently postponed for reasons which God saw fit.

   We must remember that John, in accordance with his role as Elijah, preached repentance to the Jewish nation. And in the Old Testament, the one abiding condition of national restoration is repentance (Isaiah 58: 6-14; Jer. 4: 1-2; 17: 24-26; 22: 3-4; etc.). When the Jews refused to repent, and in fact delivered the Lord Jesus Christ to the Romans to be crucified, the prophecies concerning Messiah’s sufferings and sacrifice were fulfilled, and all things held in abeyance until Christ had ascended to sit at the right hand of the Father, and the apostles received the promise of the Holy Ghost.

   Then, after the Lord’s resurrection and ascension, the kingdom was re-proclaimed for forty years (A.D. 30-70), first by Peter and the twelve, and later by Paul, under the administration of the Holy Spirit. During the greater part of this period, at least until the first imprisonment of Paul (in A.D. 62) the Jews were given priority of hearing the message.

   This new proclamation of the kingdom, which had for its subject the exaltation of Christ as a risen Messiah, was none other than the “sign of the prophet Jonah.” The burden of the apostolic message was that Christ was about to come and restore all things, on the condition of national repentance (Acts 3: 19-21). But when after the probationary period had almost expired, the Jews refused to meet the condition, Jerusalem was destroyed, and the then-imminent kingdom was postponed to a future time.

   The present age is The Ecclesiastical Dispensation, or “Dispensation of the Mystery,” mentioned by Paul in Eph. 3: 9 (where the critical texts read “oikonomia,” and not “koinonia”). It is a “parenthesis” which comes between the Legal and the Messianic (Millennial) dispensations. The character of this dispensation is given by Paul, in which he reveals that blindness in part is happened unto Israel, UNTIL the fullness of the Gentiles be come in (Romans 11: 25). It will end when, under the Great Tribulation, the Jewish nation repents, and Jesus Christ returns to destroy all nations that come against Jerusalem (Zech. 12: 9-10; Zech. 14: 4; cf. Jer. 30: 15-16, 20; Micah 5: 15; Zeph. 3: 8). Then will the kingdom, which would have been established in the first century had the Jews repented and accepted Christ, have its perfect fulfillment.

   This postponement factor, far from being an invention of man, is evidenced by the Old Testament Scriptures. To give an example, we’ll remember that God sent His prophet Isaiah to tell king Hezekiah, “Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live” (Isaiah 38: 1; 2 Kings 20: 1). But after Hezekiah prayed for mercy, his then-imminent demise was postponed, and his life prolonged by fifteen years (Isaiah 38: 5; 2 Kings 20: 5-6). To show Hezekiah (and ourselves) that He alone has power to defer judgment and lengthen days, God brought the shadow on the sundial of Ahaz ten degrees backward (Isaiah 38: 8; 2 Kings 20: 8-11).

   As also witnessed in the history of Jonah and the repentance of the Ninevites, God can and does often postpone judgments that are declared to be imminent (Jonah 3: 10). In fact, it is no misstatement to say that often this very element of imminency plays a key part in the working of that repentance which postpones His wrath. Of course Preterists will probably not acknowledge this. But it seems incomprehensible why God would bring the nations of the world into judgment during a time when they, the very antitype of the repenting Ninevites, received the Gospel with joy, evidencing their faith with the fruits of the Spirit (Col. 1: 6).

   Then, too, the apostles were called the “salt of the earth” (Matt. 5: 13). And what is the purpose of salt? Is it not to prevent moral putrefaction that brings on judgment? (see Amos 8: 1-2). The moral state of the world in the first century has been outlined by Paul in Romans ch. 1. And therein he reveals the purpose of the grace and apostleship which he received. It was “for obedience to the faith among all nations” (Romans 1: 5).

   If the world was judged in A.D. 70, then the apostolic salt is proved to have been of no avail. But are we to believe this? On the contrary, we hold that the salt of the Gospel was spread so effectively during the first century, that Christ postponed the judgment that was then-imminent. And now we must await certain events to unfold; events which, in fact, will make the moral conditions of the world similar to those in the days of Noah and of Lot (Luke 17: 26-30). According to His own words, Christ will only return when the world is ripe for judgment.

   But the Preterist theory of “Time texts” breaks down further, when we come to realize that many of these same expressions used by Preterist as proof-texts occur repeatedly throughout the Old Testament prophets. The established usage only demonstrates that phrases like “near,” “soon,” and “at hand,” while implying imminency at any time, do not enforce immediateness of fulfillment. We trust that after a closer study the discerning Bible student will give up the Preterist view. For the Old Testament time-texts show us that not only is fulfillment often delayed, but that, because so, all imminency must be referred to God’s standard of time, and not ours.

   Let us take a look at some of these texts. After a diligent reading of the Old Testament prophets, I’ve discovered 19 verses that speak in terms of “near,” “soon,” and “at hand.” The expressions contained in these verses will be found to match those in the New Testament; and so we must grant that they have a uniform usage throughout the BIble. In most cases, it will be very difficult to make these statements match up with the Preterist point of view.

   When the prophets said that something was “at hand,” did the Spirit of Christ which was in them (1 Peter 1: 11) signify that it would inevitably fall out within a few years? Or are the time-indicators Hebraistic expressions which denote imminency from God’s perspective? Let us see.

   (Isaiah 10: 25) “For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and my anger in their destruction.”

   (Isaiah 13: 6) “Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.”

   (Isaiah 56: 1) “Thus saith the Lord, keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.”

   (Jeremiah 51: 33) “For thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like threshing-floor, and it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.”

   (Ezekiel 30: 3) “For the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen.”

   (Ezekiel 36: 8) “But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come.”

   (Joel 1: 15) “Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.”

   (Joel 2: 1) “Blow ye a trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, it is nigh at hand.”

   (Zephaniah 1: 14) “The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty men shall cry there bitterly.”

   (Haggai 2: 6) “For thus saith the Lord of Hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; and I will shake all nations, and the Desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of Hosts.”

   In my opinion, these verses effectively refute the Preterist interpretation of timing-texts. In the ten examples given above, terms such as”in a little while,” “soon,” and “at hand,” while certainly denoting imminency, do not in any case necessitate immediacy of fulfillment. In fact, Haggai 2: 6 was quoted by Paul in Hebrews 12: 26, some 580 years after Haggai had told the Jews that the ONCE “shaking of all nations” would occur “in a little while.” Since no such “shaking” occurred within a short compass of human years, it is evident that the imminency of the event must be referred to God’s standard of time, and not man’s. According to God, one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day (2 Peter 3: 8).

   Those who wish to study the matter further will do well to investigate Deuteronomy 32: 35, which further strengethens our view of the timing-texts. “To me belongeth vengeance, and recompense; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.” It is no mistake to say that Moses himself was the originator of the Hebraistic expression at hand; and that in his concept of the term, delay is implied in the phrase in due time. In other words, while judgment is always impending, it may be, and often is, delayed through the Divine mercy. For “mercy rejoiceth against judgment” (James 2: 13).

   Conclusion: So then, by way of authority, all imminency-texts are referable to God’s standard of time. By way of application, they may refer to any epoch of human history; albeit, removal of the application can never nullify the authority.

   As we’ve shown above, the Preterist theory of imminency is erroneous– First, because it fails to adhere to the Old Testament standard of prophetic usage; Second, because it submits canonical writings to the interpretive standards of mere human documents. This latter tendency, in itself a product of the rationalistic school of exegesis, is to be deplored inasmuch as it logically limits the Christianity of the Bible to a forty-year period. And yet when we study the post-Apostolic writings, we never find the church fathers drawing any such inferences as Preterists do from the same texts. It is evident therefore that the Preterist method of interpretation constitutes spiritual and Satanic error, and is worthy of our strongest condemnation.

Refuting Preterism: The First Foundation: “This Generation”

   Preterism is the belief that most, if not all, of Bible prophecy was fulfilled at the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Essential to the preterist view is the belief that “all these things” mentioned in Matthew 24: 1-34 were “filled full” during the first century. How far the preterist follows this thread to its logical conclusions determines how preteristic he/she is. Preterists who only trace it out to verse 34 are known as “partial” preterists. Whereas those who follow it all the way through Matthew 25 are known as “Full Preterists.” Both teach that the parousia (second coming of Christ) was none other than the destruction of the Jewish temple by the Roman armies. According to Preterist eschatology, the second coming of Christ is not personal, but providential.

   In previous articles, I’ve pointed out how essential a particular understanding of the phrase “This generation” is to supporting Preterist claims that all Bible prophecy was fulfilled in A.D. 70. I’ve also shown that the term “this generation” means, in all cases, the nation of Israel, and not Christ’s first-century audience. Not only is this truth a valid starting-point to refuting Preterist heresy, but it is one that destroys the very foundation upon which Preterism rests.

   In studying the usage of “genea” in the New Testament, I find that it is rendered “generation” in 36 instances–30 in the singular, 6 in the plural. Of these 36 instances, “genea” occurs 25 times when the nation of Israel is being addressed. The particular phrase “this generation” occurs 16 times in the New Testament. In each and every case, the phrase is used when Christ is speaking to the Jewish nation.

   Incidentally, “this generation” is not used in any of the church epistles, but is found only in the three synoptic Gospels. It always has a distinct Jewish reference, and is never employed in any address, whether oral or epistolary, made to the Gentiles. This gives us our biggest clue as to the precise meaning of “this generation.” Since “genea” has several different meanings, the textual referent and established usage must determine our understanding of the term. When Christ said, “This generation shall not pass until all these things be fulfilled,” we are warranted in our belief that He was speaking of Old Covenant Israel.

   I believe that what Our Lord was saying is this: The nation of Israel will abide in the wilderness, and not enter into possession of the promises, until all these things be accomplished. Remember that throughout the Old Testament it was declared that “tribulation” would be necessary to bring Israel into the bonds of the New Covenant. And when they finally entered the New Covenant, then alone would the promises made to the fathers be fulfilled, and Israel would inherit the land “for ever.”

   Christ teaches this in His Olivet Discourse. And an important key to Matt. 24: 34 may be found in Hebrews 3 & 4. Remember that Christ came to confirm, not to nullify, the promises made to the fathers (Rom. 15: 8). But Paul wrote that these promises would not be fulfilled as long as Israel remained in unbelief (Heb. 3: 18-19). In Hebrews 4: 1-9, he equates entrance into Canaan with the Sabbatical rest. In writing that “there remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God,” Paul teaches that Israel had never truly entered Canaan. In other words, they were still in the wilderness.

   Like those sent by Moses to search out the land Canaan, Israel was shown the glories of the kingdom during Christ’s earthly ministry. But because they brought up an evil report to Pontius Pilate, rejecting the kingdom, the nation was thrust into the wilderness and consigned to wander until the time they would repent and accept Christ as their Savior. This is the great truth which Peter preached after the resurrection of Christ. The one condition of Christ’s return is national repentance (Acts 3: 19-21; cf. Matt. 23: 39; Luke 13: 35). Far from being a new revelation, this was even foretold in the Old Testament:

   (Hosea 5: 15) “I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.”

(Micah 5: 3) “Therefore will He give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.”

   Both the above verses imply that tribulation is needed to bring about national restoration. But this condition of national repentance has never yet been fulfilled. Hence, Israel has never been able to secure the promises made to the fathers. But Christ’s Olivet Discourse shows us the very course of things which will bring about the long-promised repentance and restoration of Israel.

(Ezekiel 20: 37-42) “And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant… And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me… For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord God, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first-fruits of your oblations, with all your holy things. I will accept you with your sweet savor, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered, and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give unto your fathers.”

  Here we learn the indisputable truth that national restoration must be preceded by national correction. Then, according to the prophet Jeremiah, once Israel enters the New Covenant, the land promises will be fulfilled. See Jeremiah 31: 31-40. Especially pertinent hereto is the fact that God promised to preserve Israel as a nation as long as the ordinances of the sun, moon, and stars continue (31: 35-37). This promise is repeated in Jer. 33: 20-26, where the preceding context speaks of the restoration of the Jewish nation under the reign of the Messiah (33: 10-18).

   So, here’s where logic leads us: If Christ won’t return until the Jewish nation repents; and if tribulation is needed to secure repentance; then, seeing that Christ’s Olivet Discourse predicts those very times of tribulation required to bring about the repentance and restoration of Israel; and knowing that Israel has never entered into their everlasting inheritance of the land of promise: then we must conclude that the parousia is a future event. Therefore, the phrase “this generation” must bear another sense than that of “Christ’s first-century hearers.” The only other interpretation possible is that which understands it to mean “Old Covenant Israel.”

  “This Generation” will “pass away” when Israel enters the new covenant, and receives a new heart and a new spirit. “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God” (Ezek. 36: 25-28).

   Nationally speaking, old things must pass away and all things become new (2 Cor. 5: 17). As only Caleb and Joshua could enter Canaan, while the rest of the “that generation” passed away (Numbers 14: 22-22; 32: 10-12), so only those who follow Jesus Christ, the anti-typical Moses, can leave the wilderness and take possession of the everlasting inheritance. Only those who have a right spirit will obtain the land which God promised unto Abraham. Since the promise was by grace, and not through the law (Rom. 4: 13; Galatians 3: 18), Israel must come under the terms of the New Covenant (covenant of grace), that every jot and tittle of God’s purposes concerning Israel may be realized. This is what Christ meant when He said: “This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.”